/**
 * Software License, Version 1.0
 * 
 * Copyright 2003 The Trustees of Indiana University.  All rights reserved.
 * 
 *
 *Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without 
 *modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
 *
 *1) All redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
 * the list of authors in the original source code, this list of conditions and
 * the disclaimer listed in this license;
 *2) All redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright 
 * notice, this list of conditions and the disclaimer listed in this license in
 * the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution;
 *3) Any documentation included with all redistributions must include the 
 * following acknowledgement:
 *
 *"This product includes software developed by the Community Grids Lab. For 
 * further information contact the Community Grids Lab at 
 * http://communitygrids.iu.edu/."
 *
 * Alternatively, this acknowledgement may appear in the software itself, and 
 * wherever such third-party acknowledgments normally appear.
 * 
 *4) The name Indiana University or Community Grids Lab or NaradaBrokering, 
 * shall not be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software 
 * without prior written permission from Indiana University.  For written 
 * permission, please contact the Advanced Research and Technology Institute 
 * ("ARTI") at 351 West 10th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202.
 *5) Products derived from this software may not be called NaradaBrokering, 
 * nor may Indiana University or Community Grids Lab or NaradaBrokering appear
 * in their name, without prior written permission of ARTI.
 * 
 *
 * Indiana University provides no reassurances that the source code provided 
 * does not infringe the patent or any other intellectual property rights of 
 * any other entity.  Indiana University disclaims any liability to any 
 * recipient for claims brought by any other entity based on infringement of 
 * intellectual property rights or otherwise.  
 *
 *LICENSEE UNDERSTANDS THAT SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" FOR WHICH NO 
 *WARRANTIES AS TO CAPABILITIES OR ACCURACY ARE MADE. INDIANA UNIVERSITY GIVES
 *NO WARRANTIES AND MAKES NO REPRESENTATION THAT SOFTWARE IS FREE OF 
 *INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY PATENT, COPYRIGHT, OR OTHER PROPRIETARY RIGHTS. 
 *INDIANA UNIVERSITY MAKES NO WARRANTIES THAT SOFTWARE IS FREE FROM "BUGS", 
 *"VIRUSES", "TROJAN HORSES", "TRAP DOORS", "WORMS", OR OTHER HARMFUL CODE.  
 *LICENSEE ASSUMES THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE PERFORMANCE OF SOFTWARE AND/OR 
 *ASSOCIATED MATERIALS, AND TO THE PERFORMANCE AND VALIDITY OF INFORMATION 
 *GENERATED USING SOFTWARE.
 */
package cgl.narada.transport;

/** The primary purpose of the administrative link is to facilitate the 
    negotiation of the best available transport for communication between
    two end-points. The protocol employed by the administrative link can
    be used to query the list of communication protocols supported by another
    node, incorporate corresponding negotiation widgets  to determine if 
    commununication is indeed possible and finally negotiate the best available
    transport for communication between two nodes.

    @author Shrideep Pallickara
    $Date$
    $Revision$
*/

public interface AdministrativeLink {
  
  /** Returns the list of communication protocols supported by a given node */
  public String[] getListOfLinkTypesSupported();

  /** Negotiates the best available link type for communication between
      two NaradaBrokering end-points */
  public String negotiateLinkForCommunication();

  /** Implementation of a communication suite in NaradaBrokering, also 
      requires the incorporation of LinkNegotiator which verifies if
      communication is possible between two end-points using the newly 
      incorporated communication suite. */
  public void incorporateNegotiationWidget(LinkNegotiator negotiator);

  /** Garbage collect resources associated with this link. Sockets need to
      be closed and any resources associated with communication, needs to be
      garbage collected */
  public void closeLink();
  
}
